Chaire Herodikos Selymbriaios!

Nice run. New Years Day was a washout, between little sleep and hanging out with people. Was determined to have a good hard run today. And did. Twice around the lake, did the first three at about 7:45, 7:50 7:30, then kicked it up a notch to 7:10 6:50 6:50, with a half-mile of that at about 5:50 pace. Caught my breath at 8:15 for a mile, then busted another 6:50 on home. 7:26 average for the run.

Ran late, after full work day. Not too much spring in my step. 8:45 or thereabouts.

Late lunch of Haitian-style roast pork. You'd think a little extra jet propulsion would speed me up, but our craft met with quite a bit of turbulence and necessitated a pit-stop at the hangar mid-flight to eject (more or less) solid rocket booster. Barely made it home, dudes. Unleaded fuel only.

End to a mediocre week, did the Greenlake-Lake Union loop, felt pretty good. 7:30 average.

Greelake-Lake Union loop with no backtracking works out to 9 miles exactly. A bit stiff, took it easy. 8:30 average.

Intermittent drizzle at 7PM for another Lake to Lake Special. Wore my quilted Adidas warmup, which has a good hood, but it was giving me some annoying wind resistance, plus bad acoustics, so eventually I just chucked it -- well, tied it around the waist. In the end I don't think I got much wetter than I usually sweat.

Feeling pretty good, and decided to let it all hang out on the Ravenna hill, which started halfway through mile 5. Clocked around 5:10 pace for that 800m, ending a couple of blocks after the bottom. Fun. So that's what it feels like sustaining that kind of speed. Then a couple 7:30 uphill miles, then I got the itch again and managed a mile at 6:30 between the university and Gasworks. Eased up for the last stretch home, and this morning everything seems to be in fine working order.

7:31 average for the run. Mizuno.

Lake to Lake. Working on pace, object was (without looking at The Watch) to keep it under 8, but not to strain at all. Read the results when I got home: failed on only one mile, getting up to 7:30 on the Ravenna hill. Otherwise they were all between 7:42 and 7:58. A bit of shin soreness, and legs were feeling a bit dead after mile 5.  Averaged 7:50 exactly for the run. Mizuno.

Soupy weather, soupier legs. Took it very chill (maybe that was my body temperature). Mizuno.

Was feeling some shinsplint action coming on, so decided to take it easy and limit the week by default to 50 miles. Down to the gym, where I did intervals on the elliptical for 20+ minutes -- "2.7 miles" -- resistance 12, three minutes at an easy pace ("5 mph") using the handles, followed by one minute at a hard pace ("15 mph") without using the handles. Quads were really burning, it felt good. Then finished up with 2.8 mi on the treadmill at an 8:00 pace.

Lake to lake, Watchless and watchless. Didn't even look at the kitchen clock before I left. Very easy pace.

Worked late, got kind of a little late start to meet David at 25th and Trail; hauled a bit more mule than planned. First was about 8:10 I think then a couple of 7:20s and a 6:38 (6:00 or so on the hill part). David ran a 10k yestrday and was looking to take it easy, but we got to yakking and somehow headed off to Gasworks at a pretty good clip. Sorry David! 7:32 average for the run. Nimbus.

Not a run, an adventure. Snow in Seattle means slush on the ground, and boy I got slurped big time. Late dinner not totally digested, so there was strange turbulence inside and out. Wet feet, but strangely exhilarating. If I made it through this, perhaps the routine has been established.

Incidentally, on the one patch of snow that wasn't turned to dreck, I noticed that my footfalls are really splayed outwards. Is that just how one runs on snow I wonder, or might it explain the ongoing fasciitis?

Mizuno.

Lake to lake. Nothing special to report. 7:49 average. Nimbus.

Home very late, barely got the run in before midnight. Slog, man, slog. Watchless, around 8:15 I think. Mizuno. The Mizunos are about done (relatively few miles on them, not cost-effective) I'll need to get another shoe in the rotation.

Got home tonight feeling like I'd been run over. My blood sugar must have been really low, though I tried to supplement with a PB&H special. Should have gone later, after dinner. Anyway, just took it as slow as necessary, but even that was a struggle. 9:00 average. Nimbus.

Ate and napped first, and felt quite a bit better. Still, went pretty slow. Watchless, but about 8:30. Nimbus.

This evening's run caps off a record week (55.5 mi), and a stretch of two weeks/100+ miles without a rest day. Legs are a bit soggy, but really not too bad considering. Actually feeling pretty good. But I'll enjoy tomorrow's off day and get lots of work done.

The break really did me good. Objective this week is hit 60 mi, so I took it easy again but mixed in one 7-minute mile (actually started out at about 7:40 and then decided to put on the gas about 800m in). 8:10 average overall. Nimbus.

Legs were more or less OK but my mind was a-wanderin. May have had something to do with the fact that it was almost midnight by the time I shook off the third base coach's sign and made the turn for home. Didn't feel like going very fast, and indeed I did not. With a concerted push on the last four blocks, kept it under 9:00/mi. Nimbus.

Have I mentioned that the nights this week have been totally freaking beautiful? Coldapple, clear, moon shining bright, all the stars that's fit to see through light pollution. Delicious. Some high clouds this morning, I think a front may be moving in. Bummer.

Hardish but slowish miles. Legs still feel more or less like jellyfish puree, waiting for the "adding miles feeling" to go away, which may be when I stop adding miles. Ran an extra .75 or so up the lake and back, on the theory that I may not feel like running 15 later in the week. Meanwhile, will be glad when the new shoes arrive. Nimbus. 1:26 total.

Out with DG for barbecue; combined with the fact that public restrooms along the lake are apparently locked after 10:00 in wintertime, this made for slapstick that nearly turned tragicomic. Neither the time nor the place for resolution of knotty doctrinal issues, of course, but perhaps I'll be forgiven if I thank God for the Greenlake Bar & Grill.

Slow, slow and slower. But I finished with a dash/lumber. Nimbus.

There were moments in this run where my legs found themselves again. Brief, shining moments. Mostly it was dreck, though.

This was a great run. Not particularly fast, and not particularly far. But it took me (barely) over 60 for the week, and over 200 for the month, and I was striding much less jello-like. Last mile in 7:52. Cool! Mizuno.

Very satisfied rest day tomorrow.

Snow-->slush-->mud. It looks great coming down, but by the time I get to it, a bit of a slog.

Slightly new route, or rather, combined the old and the new. I'm definitely getting my legs back. One fastish mile in 7:35--limiting factor was more some minor soreness in a few areas than the muscle fatigue I was getting last week. Will try keeping up the miles at a moderate pace for six more days then start varying it a bit.

This was I think the first time in months that I've had to cut a run short. Digestive problems. I'm not sick, so it must have been something I ate. Frustrated.

OK, that was a bit better. Didn't get home until 10:30 and had only a couple of bananas for dinner, so a serious effort wasn't in the cards, but at least I wasn't heading for the public restroom or Starbucks every two miles! Finished my loop at just about the stroke of midnight, to discover two police cars blocking off a section of street right in front of my apartment, on exactly the stretch where I do my cooldown. A burglary or something I guess. Ten minutes later helicopter did a flyby.

Lake to Lake. Nothing special.